Xavier guard Semaj Christon, pictured here in the Musketeers' win over Memphis Tuesday, is among the best freshman point guards in the nation.Associated Press

AMHERST – In the crowded middle of the Atlantic 10 standings, every win is big.

For the University of Massachusetts basketball team to emerge from Xavier’s Cintas Center on Saturday (2 p.m., CBS Sports Network) with a big one, it will have to keep more than just one eye on the Musketeers’ fabulous freshman, Semaj Christon.

The 6-foot-3 point guard’s rapid ascent to elite status has helped transform a Xavier team with low expectations into a fringe NCAA tournament contender if it can put together a late run.

“He’s got that next-level kind of size and athleticism,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “I think he’s one of the better point guards in the league right now, and I think if he stays next year, he’ll be right up there with (UMass') Chaz (Williams) as one of the best point guards in the league.”

Kellogg said Christon, who leads Xavier in scoring at 15 points per game, will absolutely win A-10 Rookie of the Year, and even threw in a couple of big-time NBA comparisons.

“He’s looking to score, he’ll get in there, ball fake one way kind of like (Rajon) Rondo does,” Kellogg said. “He’s a little bit like (Derrick) Rose in that he’s a bigger kind of athletic guard that can shoot over you, and he makes tough shots.”

UMass guard Freddie Riley said the key to keeping Christon’s production down is to keep him away from the rim.

“Really the most important thing is to keep him out of the lane and make him take outside shots,” Riley said. “Then hopefully we can rebound and run.”

Rebounding will be another challenge for UMass against a Xavier team that showed how physical it can be on the glass in a 64-62 win over No. 19 Memphis on Tuesday. The Musketeers, led by 6-8 Travis Taylor, outrebounded the Tigers 41-32 and had an 18-4 edge in second-chance points.

“I thought against Memphis they made a concerted effort to say, ‘We’re going to be physical,’” Kellogg said. “Us being similar in that mode of Memphis or VCU with the way that we are kind of athletic and get out, I’m sure that’s going to be another focus for them. If we can match their physicality down low, I think that gives us an opportunity to win the game.”

The battle underneath is likely to be similar to what the Minutemen faced at Charlotte on Feb. 2 — a game UMass lost, but didn’t back down from the challenge in the paint.

“We’re not a weak team,” Riley said. “We’re fairly big in terms of size with everybody except for Chaz, so if the refs let us play a physical game like we can play, then we know we can hang with them.”

The Musketeers will also be helped by the return of guard Dee Davis. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Shannon Russell, Davis is expected to be in the lineup after missing the Memphis game with “concussion-like symptoms” he sustained in a collision against VCU.

Without Davis, Christon was forced to handle the ball even more than usual in 38 minutes – but he committed only one turnover despite a 4-for-13 shooting performance.

“There’s some of it where Dee really makes them much better, but there’s also when your best player is now making a lot more plays, that also can be beneficial,” Kellogg said.

Davis or no Davis, stopping Christon, along with battling on the boards, will be what will decide whether UMass gets its first victory at Cintas Center since 2001.